


one week

by tougenkyous



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Seven Days, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-08 11:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5495507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tougenkyous/pseuds/tougenkyous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say seven days are long enough for you to fall in love.</p><p>•</p><p>In which Hnata has an overbearing personality which many people find it hard to love him for, and Tsukishima is this seemingly mysterious junior at university who has a different partner every week for some reason.</p><p>They cross paths, and they start a one-week relationship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	one week

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sootegremlin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sootegremlin/gifts).



> My submission for HQ hols! If you're wondering, I meant "Seven Days" as in the manga by Rihito Takarai, not the American television drama or Korean film.
> 
> This is probably my first multi-chapter in... forever. As of now, I'm severely lacking any motivation to write, so it may take a while for me to update this fic, but I can promise that this fic _will_ be finished and that I'd do my best for the remaining chapters! Please be prepared for all sorts of romantic cliches to be thrown in your face. Oh, and reading the Seven Days manga is _not_ necessary in order for you to understand what's going in this fic.
> 
> I'd like to thank [Serena](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Sotong_sotong) for giving me the idea and torturing me with headcanons of this AU; [Winny](http://archiveofourown.org/users/manta), [Srishti](http://archiveofourown.org/users/starsupernova) and [KC](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ultears) for being my wonderful betas! I'd like to thank you guys once more and also [Sonya](http://archiveofourown.org/users/kiddolane) for keeping me alive and giving me encouragement when I kept losing myself to my lack of motivation as well as frustration as I wrote this as well. ; __ ;; Thank you guys so much! I really wouldn't have made it without you all. Words aren't enough to express my gratitude.
> 
> A big thank you as well to all that were involved in making HQ holidays exchange real. You guys did such an amazing job hosting this. :D I'm still in awe at the way you guys handled things, especially with so many participants and yet you guys still managed to do it.
> 
> And lastly, this is for my HQ hols recipient, sootegremlin. (o^^o) I hope you enjoy it! ♥ Merry Christmas to everyone!

They say love consists in gazing at a person’s face first, then their legs, and maybe their chests, too, because what else would you love a person for?

It’s one hot, sweat-inducing afternoon when Hinata Shouyou finds himself distracted from his homeroom lecture to wonder if love is based on more than just appearances.

 

* * *

**November 30th, Monday**

* * *

 

Hinata hears the girls gossiping more than usual in the hallways.

 _He broke up with her_ , he hears them say. _He said he couldn’t fall in love with her; how sad._

It’s brief, but he wonders if the girl who just got broken up with is crying her eyes out right now. Love is such a common thing among not only high schoolers, but university students as well these days. Breakups are probably even more common. It probably should be alarming him to see the amount of crying students in empty classrooms increasing these days, but somehow it doesn’t.

He just couldn’t understand why people would cry over such a trivial thing. If you have just broken up with someone, naturally you should be forgetting about them and moving on instead of moping about, right?

And besides, however bad he feels for the girl who was just broken up with, he’s in no place to do anything other than wonder — who is _he_?

Through coincidence or fate — although Hinata would _really_ like to believe it’s the aforementioned — that’s how he meets Tsukishima Kei, the underclassman two years younger than him who dates and breaks up with a “I’m sorry, I couldn’t fall in love with you” in a span of one week, under a tree that has been withered by the weather and decorated in the snow.

It’s weird, he thinks, that Tsukishima is _nothing_ like the rumors have said. “Ideal boyfriend” is the last term he would associate him with, because he’s possibly the one of the _rudest_ people he’s unfortunate enough to meet. Maybe Hinata is in no position to think such a thing, especially when there have been more than twice the instance where girls have avoided approaching him due to his overbearing personality, but he just can’t _see_ what made this guy so popular.

“So, you’re that rumored guy who dates someone and then dumps them at the end of the week?” He converses, looking at him with eyes sparkling with curiosity. It’s a two-hour break in between his classes, and since he’s seated under the same tree as the guy who makes up about ninety-nine percent of the rumors circling in their school, he might as well try to talk to him to kill time.

“Who are _you_?” He returns Hinata’s question with another question, disinterest heavy in his tone. “I don’t see why I should tell you anything when I barely know you.”

That’s already a bad start to a bad first impression.

But then again, there might be something wrong with Hinata, too, when he feels the urge to ask him, straightforwardly, despite having bristled at the way he responds coldly.

“You just broke up with someone, didn’t you?”

There is a moment of silence; Tsukishima stops the movement of his fingers tapping away on his phone screen and looks up from the device.

“I’m sorry, did I mention somewhere that it was any of your business? It must have slipped my mind if I did.”

He expected his answer — what a sarcastic asshole — but an incomplete sense of displeasure tugs at Hinata, still. He can’t seem to explain why — maybe it’s because Tsukishima reeks of the rumors, and as someone who gets curious fast and lots, he feels another urge, this time to find out if the rumors are true.

They say that curiosity kills the cat. Maybe that’s why Hinata has been told more times than he could count with his fingers that he resembles one, because the curiosity grows to be too much, and he isn’t thinking when he feels the impulse rise, and the words slip past his lips faster than he has control over them.

“Go out with me, then.”

There is another silence, uncannily so — although Hinata has expected this, too — and a look that balances between surprise and astonishment from Tsukishima. Hinata watches, _observes_ as golden eyes widen slightly, and he tightly purses his lips when he realizes what he has just said.

A snark or two from Tsukishima, though, shatters his expectations of the worst scenario to come.

“I’d feel dishonored hearing that from you,” he scoffs, but amused, and adjusts the headphones hanging around his neck. “But sure.”

The silence comes from Hinata this time, his eyes big like they’re going to pop out anytime soon and jaw as slack as it could be.

“I have tutoring, so I’ll be going first. See you tomorrow?”

It’s a half-hearted goodbye, but they fail to reach Hinata’s ears in a state of speechlessness. He _definitely_ wasn’t thinking at all. Did he really ask Tsukishima out? Did Tsukishima really agree to go out with him? Feeling the panic rise, Hinata opens his mouth to inquire Tsukishima what he meant by his answer, but he’s already gone before he could get a word out.

There is a moment of very awkward silence. Hinata almost wants to scold himself aloud — curse his raging curiosity. What did Tsukishima mean by ‘see you tomorrow’? Is Hinata supposed to wait for him here tomorrow? His answer was vague. More importantly, did Tsukishima actually mean it when he said _yes_?

He can’t be, Hinata thinks. It’s hard to believe, especially when it’s clearer than water that the both of them don’t click well with each other. But Tsukishima had said yes, that he’d see Hinata in school tomorrow — but would he really?

And so, the one-week relationship with Tsukishima Kei begins.

☆ ★ ☆

No matter how many times Tsukishima tells her off, she won’t change how she is.

Sometimes it gets to be too much of a hassle. It’s troublesome, _annoying_ — such as now, when Tsukishima is laying on his bed, eyelashes heavy with sleep, and the only thing that’s getting in between him and his resting time is the buzzing of his cellphone on his bedside table. He doesn’t even need to slide a thumb over the screen to see who it is that’s calling, but he does so, anyway, just to grimace at the name of the caller flashed up on the screen.

“Hinata,” he answers exasperatedly. “It’s 11pm—”

“Kei, why did you answer my call so late?” The voice on the other line interrupts him mid-sentence. “Were you _hesitating_ to pick up?” She sounds offended now, and Tsukishima has to keep in a sigh. “I want to see you. Come over to Shinjuku? I’m waiting at the usual bar.”

“I hope you realize the train stops operating at midnight, _and_ I’m not sneaking out just to see you,” he tells her.

“ _Oh_ , Kei,” he hears her affectionate chuckle; it makes his gut twist. “Still the little goody two shoes you are.”

“Hinata,” Tsukishima says in a firm voice. “ _Hinata_ , stop doing this. You already have my brother.”

“Didn’t I tell you, Kei? I like you,” she says. Again with those words; she says them like it’s nothing, and it pisses Tsukishima off. “I like you a lot, Kei. Don’t fret over the extra details. Please, come over to Shinjuku?”

He doesn’t hold back the sigh this time, and it’s loud enough for the person on the other line to hear, but he knows it does nothing to put her off. She's just that stubborn and persistent.

Frankly, Tsukishima is starting to tire of this. The fact that she throws around the words ‘I like you’ like it’s something casual, so full of insincerity, makes him borderline nauseous. How could someone be so hollow with their words is beyond him.

What makes him even more irritated is that he’s affected by her words.

He mostly refuses to acknowledge it, but it’s hard to deny that he feels something for her. He always has ever since she teasingly pressed her lips against his and told him she’d be willing to dump his brother for him a year ago.

He doesn’t like this one bit. He doesn’t like that she’s acting this way. He doesn’t like that she thinks nothing of hurting her brother. He doesn’t like that he feels things for her. Especially when she’s—

Instead of trying to tell her off, Tsukishima replies, “I’m seeing someone right now, so no.”

“ _Again_?” He hears her offended voice again. “What’s the point of being loyal when you’re just going to dump them in a week anyway!”

He says nothing to deny that. Then, she chuckles playfully.

“Who is it this time?”

“A senior at my university,” Tsukishima tells her, aiming to be as vague as possible. “Two years older than me.”

“Are they cute?”

“Mm, I wouldn’t say ‘cute’; more like annoying; short,” he says, stifling a chuckle as he imagines how the person in question would react if he were to hear him say that.

“What’s their name?”

There’s a moment of hesitation. He decides to evade the question.

“Hinata, it’s late, so I’m going to hang up now. Good night.”

Tsukishima cuts the call before she could answer. He places the device back on the table and lets himself fall on his bed. It’s late, he notes to himself and looks at the ticking clock on the wall. Shutting the conversation out of his mind, he closes his eyes and lets himself drift into slumber.

 

* * *

**December 1st, Tuesday**

* * *

 

Tsukishima Kei had received one of the greatest shocks of his life just yesterday when Hinata Shouyou asked him out.

It was extremely sudden, not to mention unexpected. It’s not as though Hinata is a stranger to him — at least not relationship-wise. Hinata is rather well-known and revered for being that one member of the volleyball club who can jump a jump 60cm higher than his own stature, although Tsukishima has yet to see it himself; he rarely attends practice, after all. But other than Hinata’s reputation for being able to jump, he is just another simpleton with hot blood running in his veins and with every word.

And _that’s_ why he’s the last person Tsukishima would expect to ask him out. Hot-blooded people gets his blood running, and it’s clear the nature of Hinata’s feelings towards him, seeing how Hinata puckers his lips in displeasure and grits his teeth at the snide remarks. Even the chances of Tsukishima’s best friend asking him out are likelier.

He takes a moment to wonder if Hinata had asked him out on the basis of a joke, but then again there is also the possibility that he wasn’t fooling around, no matter how much likelier the aforementioned is.

Turning to his bedside table, Tsukishima stares at his phone placed atop it, and suddenly he recalls. The clock on the wall says it’s six in the morning. He’s supposed to be texting Hinata; that’s what he always does with the people he goes out with — send them good morning texts. For a moment, he’s in disbelief it almost slipped his mind to do that, and then he’s reaching out to grab his phone to thumb past the lock screen and enter a message.

_♦ It’s Tsukishima. Good morning. If you don’t hurry and get up, you’re going to be late._

He waits for a moment, and then another when silence is all there is. And then another, before his phone screen lights up with a newly received text.

_♢ HOW DID YOU GET MY NUMBER??_

_Oh._ Now that Hinata mentions it, Tsukishima probably came off as creepy by texting him in the wee hours of morning without telling him where he has gotten his number from.

For some reason, that makes Tsukishima chuckle.

_♦ I got it from Yamaguchi, since I forgot to ask you for it yesterday._

_♢ ISN’T THAT PRIVACY INVASION??_

_♦ Do you even know the definition of privacy invasion? Anyway, I needed your number because I have to stay in contact with the one I’m going out with, you know?_

Hinata doesn’t reply immediately to that. _Have I weirded him out?_ Before Tsukishima could wonder, his phone buzzes again.

_♢ OKAY RIGHT. Thanks for interrupting my sleep._

_♦ It’s five minutes to six-ten._

_♢ STOP IT YOU’RE REALLY MAKING ME PANIC NOW._

_♦ It’s not my fault you want to sleep in. Where do you live?_

_♢ Shinagawa. Why?_

_♦ Alright. I’ll pick you up at seven-ten at Shinagawa Station?_

_♢ Wait what, you don’t have to. And where do you live anyway?_

_♦ Sugamo. And I insist. We’re dating, aren’t we?_

_♢ Wait, isn’t Sugamo, like, all the way in Ikebukuro?_

_♦ It’s in Toshima, but it’s relatively near to Ikebukuro._

_♢ WOW NO IT’S OKAY I CAN JUST MEET YOU AT SCHOOL._

_♦ Are you sure? I said I insist._

_♢ But you live so far!! You have to change stations to get here!!_

_♦ I’ll just take the Yamanote Line. It’s straight to where you are._

_♢ But still too far!!! And it's snowing!! YOU'D BE FREEZING ALL THE WAY HERE._

_♦ I want to see you._

Tsukishima pauses, taking in the message he had just sent Hinata. It’s strange that he uses the words “I want to see you” so casually when he hates them so much. He hates how hollow they sound when they go past his lips. He doesn’t even remember the last time the words were used with sincerity. There’s a time he swears to himself that he would never again meaninglessly throw around those words, but it has become a habit to say those words to his partners every week before he knows it.

He hates it. Hates how he could never bring himself to mean such important words. Hates even more how similar he sounds to _her_ each time he uses those words.

The device in his hand buzzes minutes later.

_♢ Okay fine. We’ll meet at Shinagawa Station at seven-ten?_

All of a sudden, Tsukishima finds himself wondering what if — just _what if_ , Hinata could be that someone to inject meaning into those words.

He doesn’t know if he would like to dwell on that possibility.

_♦ Sure. See you._

☆ ★ ☆

Tsukishima is far from surprised when he steps out of the train at Shinagawa Station at precisely seven-ten, only to find that Hinata has yet to arrive.

The person in question arrives exactly ten minutes later, all breaths and pants, grogginess heavy on his eyelashes, and Tsukishima can’t help but to let amusement tug at him upon seeing him in such a state. He must have been running, in a rush to reach here in time, although to no avail.

“Good morning,” Tsukishima greets him almost mockingly, relishing in the way Hinata bristles at his words.

“Thanks for giving me a heart attack early this morning,” he grumbles.

“Again, it’s not my fault someone wanted to sleep in.”

Tsukishima barely dodges a frustrated jab at his stomach.

“Anyway,” Hinata coughs, as if in some sort of lame attempt to put his frustration aside, and looks up at Tsukishima. “Are you free today?”

“Yes,” Tsukishima replies, raising a brow in suspicion, but he doesn’t think before he proceeds to ask. “Anywhere in particular that you want to go?”

“No, I was just thinking you should come to practice.”

Tsukishima _groans_.

“You rarely come to practice!” Hinata protests in defense. “I mean, I see your name on the list all the time, but I’ve only seen you attend, like, once in a blue moon.”

“And you come to practice all the time, I’m guessing,” Tsukishima says; it’s meant to be a retort, but he decides he’s in no mood to bicker. He feels Hinata tugging on his sleeve.

“Come to practice,” Hinata says, eyes wide and bearing holes into golden ones — they’re that intense, and Tsukishima has only just realized it. It’s irritating, but he sighs and shakes off the hand gripping his leave.

“Fine,” he says, pausing, and then he adds out of pure mock. “You’re pretty terrible at relationships.”

He takes delight in the way Hinata flinches at his words. “That has nothing to do with attending practice, jerk!”

Tsukishima snickers, and then he approaches the nearest ticketing machine and begins pressing buttons. Blinking in confusion, Hinata looks on curiously at Tsukishima’s side.

“What are you doing?”

“Reloading my subway pass. It’s not cheap to get to Shinagawa from where I live, after all.”

“W-Whoa, wait!” Hinata’s cry stops Tsukishima’s movements. “I’ll pay for you!”

Tsukishima blinks. “There’s no need for that.”

“I mean, I made you come all the way to Shinagawa! That’s the least I could do.” Hinata hastily fishes his wallet out from his pocket. “How much was the fare?”

“I said there’s no need for that,” Tsukishima repeats, slightly annoyed this time, and resumes pressing buttons on the ticket machine. “And I did say I insist, didn’t I? I’ll be fine. I’m your lover after all, so it’s only natural that I come all the way just to see you.”

Knowing how stubborn Hinata could be (he has, thankfully, been warned by Yamaguchi that Hinata could be quite a handful due to his loud-spoken and hot-headed nature), Tsukishima doesn’t expect anything but for Hinata to continue arguing with him over who should be the one paying for his train fares. Hinata doesn’t, though, and Tsukishima finds it slightly unsettling that he doesn’t. He turns and looks down at Hinata, who now has an expression on his face that he finds hard to read.

“Um,” Hinata starts, and Tsukishima now notices how chapped his lips are. “Are we really, like… dating?”

Tsukishima blinks again. Now that he thinks about it, this might be the first time that he has blinked in confusion for so many times in a day.

“We are,” he says, composed. “You asked me out, so we’re dating now. Unless you want to end it here.”

It sounds more like a question rather than a statement or suggestion — _do you want to end it here?_

Instead of answering that question, Hinata only looks at him with a concerned expression, a glint of doubt in his eyes as he says.

“You don’t mean the words you say.”

They are but mere seven words, but they’re enough to make an impact that hit in the chest on Tsukishima. His eyes widen slowly.

“You say things like ‘I want to see you’ and all, but you don’t mean it,” Hinata elaborates. He cocks his head to the other side and asks, “Wait, is this all a game to you?”

Tsukishima couldn’t answer that, and even if it could, he probably couldn’t even get an answer out before Hinata speaks again.

“Like, do you see this as some sort of relationship game?”

_No._

“Is that why you’re able to date and break up with someone in just one week?”

 _No, that’s not it_ , Tsukishima wants to say.

“I get it now!” Hinata jumps almost excitedly. “So I cracked the mystery, huh? No wonder you’re able to handle this relationship thing in just one week!”

_It’s not a game._

Suddenly, Tsukishima is hit with the realization that he has to break up with Hinata. He _needs_ to know that he has gotten the wrong idea about the whole thing. It’s not a game. Not to him. Tsukishima doesn’t show it, but he really does try to fall in love with his partner; it just turns out fruitless each time. There is no guarantee that he would fall for Hinata, but still.

If he ends up falling in love with Hinata, who thinks this is all a game, in this one week, would he be able to part with him on Sunday as easily as he did with his previous partners?

He has to break up with him now. He has to end this before that happens. He has to—

“Oi, Tsukishima,” Hinata’s chirpy voice snaps him out of his own thoughts. “Have you even been _listening_?”

“Not really,” Tsukishima mumbles, and almost snorts when Hinata’s shoulders jerk in annoyance.

“I _said_ ,” Hinata begins again, firmly this time. “We should go to Ikebukuro after practice.”

Tsukishima is lost. “Pardon?”

“I mean, since this is a game, I might as well enjoy it while I still can! So let’s go on a date to Ikebukuro after practice. How about it?”

_It’s not a game._

“A date with you would be unpleasant with your chirpiness and screaming,” Tsukishima sneers. “But alright then. I’ll meet you outside of club room after practice.”

The train arrives and pulls to a halt in front of them. Tsukishima goes ahead and enters the vehicle, sneering continuously as he pays no mind to the displeased noises Hinata is making.

But his mind lingers on Hinata’s words.

He spends the entire train ride to their university wondering why he can’t just say the words he wants to say.

☆ ★ ☆

“You came to practice,” Sawamura says, clearly astonished. Behind him, the entire team looks on in awe and surprise.

Tsukishima wants so badly to say that he didn’t come on his own will. The heavy air inside the gym hits his nose faster than a lighting could, and it’s _hot_. The humid is great despite the fact that it's the winter season right now. It's probably thanks to the working heaters near the entrance, and the fact that club activities are commenced with all the doors and windows closed. Tsukishima isn’t sure if he fancies the idea of joining his teammates in working out the sweat and energy in this strange combination of humid and cold.

“Tsukki, you came!” Yamaguchi yells from a distance and waves enthusiastically. “It’s so rare to see you around here.”

“Welcome back, Tsukishima-kun,” Yachi greets.

“Oh, yeah,” Tsukishima mumbles; he isn’t sure what else he could say, and then he adds quietly. “Pleased to meet your acquaintance for today.”

“Tsukishima, care to help us block some spikes?” Tanaka yells from the court, and Tsukishima almost grimaces. “ _Hey_ , don’t give me that look! We need a blocker here.”

“You’re a middle blocker?” Hinata practically materializes to Tsukishima’s side, looking up at him in pure unadulterated excitement. “ _Wow_ , why didn’t you tell me?” He accuses, pointing at himself. “I’m a middle blocker, too!”

He’s bouncing up and down now. His now wide puppy eyes are practically begging him _please block Tanaka-san’s spikes with me_ and Tsukishima thinks it’s irritating that he resembles a high schooler rather than a university student.

“ _You’re_ exactly why I didn’t tell you,” he mocks, smiling when Hinata jumps at the remark.

It’s also irritating how good Hinata is making him feel. Nobody, aside from the girls that would stalk the club’s practices from outside during the rare times he does attend practice, has ever been this excited about him being in the volleyball club before.

Tsukishima would never in a hundred years admit that, though.

“Well, I’m just glad you’re back in action for once, Tsukishima,” Sugawara chuckles and gives him a particularly hard pat on the back.

“Alright, let’s get things started,” Sawamura claps his hands to get everyone’s attention and inclines his head towards the court. “Three laps around the campus for any signs of slacking off!"

All the members are quick to get into the mood. Some of them have even started getting the ball in the air before Tsukishima knows it. The stamina his teammates possess is probably one of the seven wonders of the world, as compared to his nonexistent one and his ever growing will to _not_ move and just sleep instead. Truth to be told, everything is moving a tad too fast for him, and he’s just about ready to leave the gym unnoticed and head home instead.

Tsukishima approaches Sawamura. “Can I stay on the sidelines for a while?” He requests. “It’s been a while since I last came to practice, so I would like to get a drift of what everyone has practiced so far.”

“Oh, sure,” Sawamura smiles. “Just give us a signal when you’re ready to get in the game.”

Tsukishima nods, watching as Sawamura paces towards the court, and then he starts observing; admittedly only half-heartedly, though. There is some warming-up; he watches as his teammates stretch themselves on both sides of the court, watches as Hinata focus on stretching his arms, watches as their managers, Shimizu and Yachi, take down notes and observe them very intently.

The sound of whistle cuts through the gym, and suddenly everything is in quick motion. Asahi is the one who serves the ball, and Tsukishima watches with half the interest as his teammates give it their all to not let the ball hit the ground.

The ball flies onto the other side of the court, Kageyama sets it, and Hinata jumps.

Tsukishima loses his breath.

Up until now, Hinata has been nothing but the words “annoying”, “hot-blooded” and “loud-spoken” to him. But now — right _now_ — it may be the first time in his entire life that Tsukishima thinks of someone as beautiful.

☆ ★ ☆

“My hands are _sore_.”

Hinata’s whine is what distracts Tsukishima from the evening view outside the train window. Their practice had finished earlier than usual according to Hinata, which Tsukishima finds fortunate because not only will he be able to commence his date with Hinata early, his limbs are also spared from the torture of hours and hours of continuous spiking and blocking.

“Of course they would sore; you’d been practicing for three hours straight.”

“I get too immersed in the game sometimes," Hinata mumbles. He looks up at Tsukishima. "And you barely even played!"

“I was tired,” Tsukishima admits. He doesn’t think he could get away with an excuse, anyway.

“I was really looking forward to see you block, you know,” Hinata shoots him a disappointed look. “And here I thought we could work together.”

Tsukishima thinks of what he has witnessed in the gym earlier. It’s no wonder Hinata has become the center of rumors regarding the volleyball club. He still remembers the way Hinata braces himself on the ground before he materializes to the right side of the net, and then his feet twist and he jumps.

It had been a breathtaking sight. Hinata was almost like a crow, reaching towards the sky with wings spread wide and open. Tsukishima doesn’t think he could match up to someone like that, much less work with them.

He decides to change the topic. “Is there anything you want to do at Ikebukuro?”

“I haven’t thought about it,” Hinata rubs his chin and hums softly in wonder. “Can we go to a restaurant first?”

“What do you want to eat?”

“Anything. I’m starving and I think I might just _die_ if I don’t eat soon,” he clutches his stomach and makes a dramatic noise. “Can we get some sushi?”

Tsukishima really wants to suggest a cake shop. It’s been a while since he's had any strawberry shortcakes, but he relents to Hinata’s suggestion.

“I know a nice sushi restaurant there.”

☆ ★ ☆

“You came to a _sushi restaurant_ and ordered _tamago kake gohan_.”

He states it like it’s something documentary-worthy as he watches Hinata eagerly pull apart a pair of wooden chopsticks, looking more than ready to dig into the fresh food served in front of him.

“I _can’t_ just ignore my favourite when it’s available on the menu,” Hinata says in nugatory defense.

“Right,” Tsukishima resists the urge to roll his eyes. He pulls apart his pair of chopsticks as well before reaching out to grab a plate from the sushi belt. Hinata looks up from his food to Tsukishima.

“Whar zo ye vana go afta dis?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

Hinata swallows. “Where do you wanna go after this?”

“Mm,” Tsukishima shrugs. “I don’t know. It all depends on where you want to go.”

“Come on, we can’t be doing the things _I_ want to do the whole day. Where’s the fun if we had a date like that?”

“It’s fine, really. We’ll follow what you want to do.”

“No, I insist,” Hinata sets his point firmly. “You insisted on coming all the way to Shinagawa Station, so it’s my turn now. There _must_ be something you want to do.”

Tsukishima can’t help but to raise a brow in surprise, because Hinata is the first partner he has that suggests this. His previous partners always wanted the dates done in their ways, and Tsukishima was fine with it, but to have someone insist that they do the date in his way, too, is a first.

He thinks long and hard. He has been to most of the districts of Tokyo; in fact, he has been to all possible entertainment places in Tokyo more often than it’s good, so it’s not easy to think of something _he_ wants to do.

“I guess we can go look at shoes,” he suggests on impulse.

“Cool! Let’s look around in shoe stores after this, then,” Hinata grins at him. There are grains of rice dipped in soy sauce sticking at the corners of his mouth. How he's still able to eat so messily despite being a grown-up man is really beyond Tsukishima. Just looking at them is enough to make him want to cringe — he rarely says anything about it, but he's very particular about hygiene.

“Can’t you eat properly?” He reprimands, reaching out to wipe the rice grains off his face with his thumb.

Hinata freezes the moment Tsukishima’s finger touches his face, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. He quickly withdraws his hand once he has wiped all the rice grains. Has he perhaps weirded him out?

But then, Hinata giggles, his bowl of rice shaking slightly in his hand as he does so. “I’m starting to see where the ‘ideal boyfriend’ term comes from now.”

Tsukishima frowns. “Can we not bring up rumors about me?”

“Sorry, I just found it funny.” He’s definitely _not_ sorry at all judging by the way his grin widens with each word. The brat. “It’s just that, it’s almost like we’re dating for real.”

His words are like a jab to Tsukishima’s chest, but it’s slight and soft enough for him to ignore it.

“I’m going to finish up soon, so let’s go look for shoes.”

He doesn’t want to think about Hinata’s words for now.

☆ ★ ☆

“This is a store for sports shoes.”

“Yeah!”

“I thought we were supposed to look for shoes.”

“Ye— wait, you didn’t want to look for sports shoes?”

It’s awkward. They’re standing in the middle of a huge store specializing in sports shoes and there are barely any customers around, save for the group of men arguing over which brand to purchase in one corner of the store. The elevator music being played makes it all the more awkward. This isn’t exactly an ideal place to have a date in.

He sighs. “When people say shoes, it's to be expected that they meant _normal_ shoes, right?"

“Oh,” Hinata blinks, dumbfounded. “I thought you wanted a new pair of sneakers when you mentioned shoes, since yours are pretty worn out.”

“What?”

“The shoes you wore to practice, they’re super worn out!” Hinata says. “You didn’t notice?”

“Oh,” Tsukishima replies, nonplussed. He hasn’t noticed at all. They were shoes passed down to him from his brother, and since he rarely attends practice, he never bothers to take good care of them. It’s a surprise that Hinata of all people has noticed its condition.

“You don’t want to look for a new pair?”

“It’s not really needed.”

“But you won’t be able to come to practice, then!”

“I’ll just wear my school shoes. It’s fine.”

He wants to say _I don’t really attend practice anyway, so it doesn’t matter_ , but he knows Hinata would have none of that, especially when it’s getting apparent that Hinata is someone who takes volleyball very seriously.

Hinata squints at him, and Tsukishima has a distinctive feeling that he’s being judged.

“I’ll buy you a new one.”

Tsukishima blinks. "Excuse me?"

“If you have a new pair, you’d come to practice more often, right?”

“I said it’s not really needed. I have my school shoes.”

“You can’t run around the court in school shoes. You’ll slip to your death!”

That’s too much of an exaggeration, but Hinata doesn’t seem to realize it.

Tsukishima lets a sigh past his lips. Arguing with Hinata gets him nowhere; there's only the option to give in. “Fine. I’ll buy one.”

“Eh? But I said _I’d_ buy one for you!”

“It’s fine. _I insist_ ,” Tsukishima purposely emphasizes on the last two words, and he almost smirks when Hinata flinches. He notices that Hinata flinches at his remarks a lot, and he likes it — it’s almost like annoying a stray cat by poking it with a stick.

Eventually, Tsukishima finds a pair that his eyes fancy and pays for it, all the while ignoring what Hinata has to say in protest. Sometimes Hinata is way too loud for his own good, but there are times when his loudness comes in useful as distractions — Tsukishima doesn’t really want to dwell on the fact that Hinata makes him feel good about himself for some reason.

☆ ★ ☆

From a sushi restaurant to a store of sports shoes to multiple stores of normal shoes, and now they’re stuck in the theaters — _stuck_ because Hinata had told Tsukishima about a karate-themed movie he had wanted to watch, only to realize after they stepped into the movie hall that he had accidentally bought tickets to a movie about a high school romance instead, so Tsukishima is now being subjected to insufferably long scenes that he swears are sweeter than the honeyed nuts his mother had bought for him a few days ago.

This is, by far, the weirdest date Tsukishima has gone on. It’s not because of the strange choice of locations, though he wouldn't say they're also not partly why — it’s because of Hinata, who is easily a one-of-a-kind person and has reserved himself the title _The Person Who Managed To Make Tsukishima Kei Sigh More Than Twenty Times A Day_. He has heard negative rumors about Hinata's personality, and he thinks he can see where they came from now.

Tsukishima tries to focus on the movie. They’re at a scene where the heroine finds out she has been cheated of her feelings by the love interest when she sees said love interest being intimate with another girl.

He briefly wonders if he’s seen as someone similar to the love interest in the movie. He plays ignorance, but he knows all about the circulating rumors about him — how he famous he is for dumping girls every week, how many hearts of girls he has broken. Contextually, most of them are untrue, but he never bothers with making an effort to dispel them. He isn't what people speculate him to be — after all, he only dates the people who confess to him. Tsukishima is pretty sure there are more guys than he could count with his fingers who have beef with him at his university because of the rumors.

Suddenly, he feels a slight pressure on one of his shoulders, and he turns his head to find that Hinata has fallen asleep on him. Tsukishima sighs for the umpteenth time that day, but it’s not out of exasperation this time. Oddly enough, the sight of a sleeping Hinata soothes him.

Again, he doesn't want to think much of it. He slowly leans his head on Hinata’s as to not wake him up and closes his eyes, allowing himself to be swept away by sleep.

Hinata Shouyou is such a strange person, and what’s stranger is probably the fact that he's probably the first person to see through Tsukishima's words.

**Author's Note:**

> Certain parts may confuse you (such as the scene between Tsukishima and that Hinata girl) if you haven't read Seven Days. I've tweaked most of the scenarios as much I could to ensure that they'd go well with TsukiHina. Things will make sense as we progress along the way.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


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